Side Story: Those Distant Stars: Season 1
by Aislynn Goldleaf
Summary: A side story to Haru-chan's "Those Distant Stars" Season 1.  Ever wonder what they did with Sol during all those meetings?  Bakura gets a little help babysitting.


For Haru-chan, a side-story for your wonderful Universe.

I don't own "Those Distant Stars", "Star Wars", "YuGiOh" or anything in any of those Universes. Jahri, and her antics, are all mine though!

On with the show!

* * *

Jahri crept down the corridor silently, her twin tails twitching nervously, freeing themselves from beneath her short jumper. She knew full well she should be with her Master and the others studying. But, she'd heard the rumors about the strange newcomers and she wanted to have a peek – just one! Supposedly they had an entirely different form of the Force, and her curiosity was getting the better of her. She barely stifled a wry grin as she realized she'd be disciplined at this point whether she continued or not, so she squared her shoulders, perked up her ears, and strolled out into the main corridor as if on an errand, ignoring the prickle between her shoulders as she imagined everyone watching her.

She glanced around as she slipped into the corridor leading to the visitor's quarters, her surprise causing her to pause and feel the slight tingle of a force field on her dark furred skin. Another step, and she immediately knew the reason for the field's existence. It was the worst sound she had ever heard in her young life, much worse than the death knell of a paichkeetan from her homeworld. Resisting the strong urge to cover her sensitive ears, despite them flattening defensively to her skull, she forced herself to walk further down the corridor. The banging, clanging and shrieking continued their assault, growing in strength as she crept towards a pair of ominously open doors.

Jahri peeked slowly around the frame, her eyes widening at the destruction within the large room. One of the newcomers, as pale as the white sands of Tishcal, was standing, a hand over one ear as he held a squirming ball of hair in the other. Several other balls of hair, of various sizes and colours, bounced around the room, heedless of whatever they might bump into and screeching happily as they played. Toys were scattered about the floor, and in the center of it all, sat a kitling.

He was even smaller than she was, and quite happily occupied with banging away on a large metal container with a wooden spoon. His face was split into a huge grin that lit up the room and would cause the large-eyed balls of hair to become even more energetic whenever they saw it. "Solomon! Enough already!"

Jahri's attention was brought back to the adult male, dark wisps of something fading away from where he'd previously been holding one of the large balls of hair. He snatched another from mid-air as it bounded by, this one also vanishing into a brief puff of darkness, but not before it triggered another round of the horrible screeching.

"Look pip-squeak, your Dads are both going to kill me if we don't get the Kuriboh put away before they get back!" He attempted to grab a third, but it bounced away weightlessly before he could reach it. Jahri stifled a giggle. Despite the noise, the situation was just plain silly! Two more appeared in a corner, just as the adult snagged the one he was after. The pair briefly surveyed the room before shrieking and bounding off to join the fun. The hair ball the adult held poofed into non-existence as the adult threw up his hands into the air, his voice sounding a little harried. "Solomon! Come ON!"

Her desire to help warred with the amount of trouble she knew she was going to get into for a moment before her helpful nature won out. Bounding into the room on all fours, she meowed as she caught first one ball of hair and then another, her tails twitching as she handed them to the adult, her eyes already tracking another. He'd barely grasped them when she was off again, chasing down the hair balls that had picked up speed and volume. At one point she noticed that the kitling had tipped over backwards, convulsing in hysterical, but silent, laughter. Jahri paused to look at where the kitling was pointing, and had to chuckle herself when she saw that one of the larger hair-balls had landed on top of the adult's head, bouncing happily. It kept bouncing up out of the adult's reach, inciting the others to more and more energetic play.

Jahri readied herself, crouching to get the power needed to leap up and catch the leaping hair-ball. Her leap started out fine, she would catch the hair-ball just before it would land on the adult's head, but something grabbed one of her tails! Her trajectory ruined, she let out a screech herself as she realized she was aimed face-on for the adult! Fortunately he was just as quick as she was and she was caught by his strong hands before she could smack into him. She hung there blinking stupidly at him, her face flaming as he held her under her arms. "Oi, Kit, watch where you're flying."

He tossed her gently up, surprising both her and the hairball using his head as a trampoline. Jahri grabbed a handful of hair on her way back down, the pale adult catching her before she reached the ground. He took the hairball from her gently as he stood her back on her own two feet and patted her on the head between her drooping ears. "Thanks, Kit."

She cringed then as the kitling, bored with watching them catch hyperactive hairballs, began to bang loudly on the metal container again. A plaintive mewl escaped before she could stop herself. Had she been this horrible to her own Matriarch? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dark flicker that meant another big-eyed ball of hair had vanished.

It took some time, but eventually all those bouncing, screeching, large-eyed hairballs had been captured and made to vanish with those strange dark puffs. The adult had distracted the kitling at some point, with a far softer, quieter toy, and blessed silence now ruled the room, though Jahri's ears still rang. She watched him set a chair back upright, and figured she wouldn't get in any more trouble if she stayed longer, than if she returned to her Master immediately. She picked up a few of the kitling's toys, piling them in one corner, and then returned for more. The pale adult noticed, nodding once again in her direction, straightening the pictures on one wall. The tidying of the room took **much** less time than chasing down and corralling all those hair-balls had!

Finally, she stood nervously before the adult, her hands clasped shyly just above her tails, one clawed toe burrowing into the plush flooring. She wasn't really sure why she was staying now, but she'd stayed long enough to **really** get into some trouble, and she was starting to lose control of her emotions. Her head ducked down further as the adult reached over and rubbed the top of her head, in-between her ears. "Thanks, Kit. You really helped me out there."

"Jahri. I, Jahri." The downy fur covering her face did nothing to conceal her embarrassed blush.

"Ja-hree, you're not going to get into trouble, are you?" The adult had knelt down, his strange red irises seemingly floating in darkness, and were looking at her in concern. All she could do was nod, and sniffle as a few tears leaked out to soak the fine fur at the corners of her eyes. He rubbed her head again as he straightened. "Well, I'll have to do something about that."

She didn't see the adult fall still and silent for a brief moment, didn't know that he was explaining the situation to a sympathetic ear, and that the one he spoke to just happened to be in a meeting with none other than, "Bakura, I've brought Master Yoda as you asked."

Jahri froze. Not at the soothing tones of the other strange adult, but at the name he had spoken. _M-Master Y-Yoda?_ She kept her back to the doorway, even when she heard the Master's staff tap the floor once – his only display of his impatience at her actions. Bakura's hands gently grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently out of her terrified stare. She looked straight into his strange red eyes again, as he had knelt before her again. "Oi, Kit. Snap out of it."

He turned her to face the Master, her wide eyes first going to the other strange adult. Another male, just as pale as the one holding her shoulders, but his face was kind instead of fierce, his eyes as blue as the sky. Faint sparkles of light seemed to dust his skin, a slightly embarrassed smile gracing his face. "Bakura, I –"

"It's fine, Ryou." Bakura squeezed her shoulders gently to reassure her. "Ja-hree, time to go."

"Return her to class, I shall." Even Master Yoda's voice seemed less stern than usual to her ears. "Of repercussions, there shall be none."

Her ears and tails perked back up at the Master's last words. Impulsively, she leapt back up into Bakura's arms, planting a rough tounge-kiss upon his startled cheek. A soft rumble-purr emitted from her as she expressed her thanks in the only way she knew how. Master Yoda, a bright glint of amusement in his eyes, tapped his staff on the floor once more, bringing Jahri back to her senses. Squirming out of Bakura's arms, she raced to the Master's side, then bowed politely to both Bakura and Ryou. Her smiling face lifted just in time to see the kitling waving happily from where he sat, squishing a toy animal in his excitement.

"Master, I help more?" Jahri said shyly, pronouncing the words carefully in the way one does an unfamiliar language. Her head tilted to one side as she let out several more soft hissing growls. Master Yoda looked at her, then back at the pale pair before him, speaking as Ryou nodded once.

"We shall see, young one. We shall see."


End file.
